


Nighttime Fears

by GrandMoffAmbrius



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gifset, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 17:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4845011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandMoffAmbrius/pseuds/GrandMoffAmbrius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro knows something is troubling Nathaniel but when he finds out what that is, he finds its the source of his own nightmares.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nighttime Fears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [respoftw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Marvel in any shape or form. If I did, things would be a whole lot different.
> 
> This is my first story with this paring so I'm really looking forward to see what you thought of it. It has also not been looked over by a Beta so any and all mistakes are my own.
> 
> I dedicate to respoftw since I got into this whole fandom because of his works to begin with.
> 
> Inspired by this amazing and moving gif set
> 
>  
> 
> <http://grace9524.tumblr.com/post/124337600608/oh-my-thrilled>  
> 

Pietro could hear the heavy rain fall on the roof and howl of the wind outside as he reached the second floor landing of the Barton home. It had been raining for most of the day but it had only picked-up in intensity in the last hour. A sudden rumble of thunder spooked the platinum blond causing him to jump. After everything he had been through, Pietro Maximoff, member of the mighty Avengers, could still be cared by thunder. He could recall crawling into his parent's bed as a child when he heard the first rumble of thunder and how his parents' embrace made him feel safe. Now he had Clint to make him feel safe and he thanked God every day for bringing the older archer into his life.

As Pietro passed the door to Nathaniel’s room, the light coming from inside the room caught his attention.

_'That's odd,' _he thought to himself. He and Clint had put the boy to bed hours ago and he should have been sound asleep.__

Looking in through the slightly opened door, he saw Nathaniel sitting up in bed, arms wrapped around his legs which were pulled up to his chest and blankets that had been pushed away. Something was wrong and he needed to find out what it was. Taking a deep breath, Pietro knocked softly on the door before opening it all the way. The small boy on the bed looked up to see Pietro standing in the doorway but did not say anything.

“Hey, Little Hawk,” Pietro said softly. “You're supposed to be asleep.”

Nathaniel just looked at him with his large hazel eyes, the ones he had inherited from his father. Seeing the hurt expression in them made Pietro's stomach knot up. He hated seeing suffering and pain in those eyes. Entering the room, the speedster made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

“What's wrong?”

Nathaniel did not respond. Instead, he scooted over and nestled himself against Pietro's chest. Pietro maneuvered himself so he was lying on the bed so he and Nathaniel would be more comfortable. The first thing Pietro checked for was to see if the boy had accidentally wet the bed. Nathaniel was still wearing the stripped pajama bottoms Clint had dressed him in after his bath and saw no damp spot on the sheets so that was not the problem. So Pietro decided to go down the list of possible reason.

“Do you have a tummy ache?” he asked resting his hand on the boy's stomach.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

A head shake of no was his response.

“Is it the storm?”

Another shake no.

“Are you upset about something?”

This time, Pietro received no head shake. Instead he felt the boy's hold on him tighten.

“No,” Nathaniel answered in a small voice a moment later as he wiggled closer against Pietro's chest and buried his face in the man's shirt.

The lull in his response and his hiding his face in his shirt told Pietro that something indeed was upsetting Nathaniel. This made the speedster feel even worse. Pietro loved all three of Clint's kids but he felt especially close to Nathaniel. Last year when Clint and Laura were going through their amicable divorce, Nathaniel took it harder than Cooper and Lila and neither parent seemed able to truly comfort him. It had been Pietro who helped the small boy the most when it came to understanding why his family was changing. Clint would later say it was seeing the platinum blond cuddling his son and telling him in soft hush tones that everything was going to be alright that he started to realize his feelings for the younger man.

Pietro wanted desperately to help Nathaniel but he knew that if pushed the boy too hard, he might never get him to open up and tell him what was wrong. As much as he hated it, he needed to wait for Nathaniel to come to him. In the meantime, Pietro needed to get the child to bed and he had an idea about how to do it.

“Ah, I see what the problem is.”

Nathaniel pulled his face away from the blond’s chest and looked up at him.

“You can't sleep if you keep wiggling like that,” Pietro exclaimed as he feverishly tickled the boy's stomach and sides.

Nathaniel started to giggle uncontrollably as he squirmed and tried to escape the man's loving grasp. Seeing the gloom falling away from Nathaniel’s face and hearing his giggling was one of the best things in the world to the speedster.

“Let's get you to sleep or your Dad's going to be very mad at me,” Pietro said as he reached for the covers Nathaniel had kicked away.

Nathaniel lifted his arms and Pietro tucked the covers in around him. Once he was tucked in, Nathaniel raised his arms up. Smiling, Pietro leaned in and kissed his forehead. Pushing himself off the bed, Pietro made his way back to the door He had just put his hand on the light switch by the door and wish him a good night when he heard Nathaniel call out to him.

“Hey, Pietro.”

“Yes,” he replied turning around.

Nathaniel turned over on his side to face Pietro. “Is it true that you died to protect daddy?”

“What?” Pietro asked suddenly feeling cold on the inside.

“Cooper said that you died to protect daddy from a bad robot.”

He felt the bullets riddle his body and the blood that seeped from the many wounds Just as he realized what had just happened, Pietro felt the cold over take him as he fell to the ground.

“No, that's not true,” Pietro told him looking away for a moment before looking back, trying his best to conceal the harassed look on his face as he turned off the light. “Get some sleep Nathaniel.”

“'Kay,” Nathaniel replied as Pietro turned off the light. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Pietro said as he closed the door making sure to leave it open slightly.

For a long silent moment, Pietro stood out in the hall. Nathaniel’s statement had brought back the memories of that day. Pietro could still recall the pain of his body being pierced by bullets and the coldness as he slumped to the ground before everything was loss to darkness. He would have died had it not been for his accelerated healing factor that kept him alive long enough for the Avengers to get him stabilized long enough to get him to Dr. Cho. Both he and Clint knew there would come a time when they would have to explain the events of that day to the kids but Pietro had not expected that day to come so soon. How were they supposed to handle this?”

“Pietro,” a voice was calling his name softly.

Turning, he saw Clint, dressed in gray sweatpants and a purple shirt that was covered in his kids' colorful feet prints, standing behind him with a look of worry on his face as he saw the haunted look in his fiancé’s eye

“Clint...”

“I heard.”

“How did you...”

“Spy training, remember?” he asked with a small smile even though Pietro could see how his son's question had brought up the same bad memories for Clint as well. “Hug?”

Pietro wasted no time falling into Clint's arms and wrapping his arms around the man's strong neck as the archer wrapped his arms around the younger man's waist. Pietro always felt safe in Clint's muscular arms. He buried his face in the crook of the older man's neck and held onto him like a man clutching onto a life vest.

They stood like that for a while before letting go of each other. Clint took Pietro's hand and led him to their bed room. Once they got into bed, Clint pulled Pietro up against his chest.

“Feel better,” Clint asked as he buried his face in the Sokovia's platinum blond hair.

“Much,” Pietro answered as he nestled his face into man's chest.

Clint was just about ready to turn off the lights when there was a small knock at the door.

“Daddy...Pietro?” Nathaniel asked as he pushed open the door.

Both men sat up and looked at the small boy standing in the doorway, clutching his favorite blankie, which had fallen off his bed onto the floor when he had pushed his blankets away from him, with an imploring in his hazel eyes.

Pietro looked to Clint who nodded then turned to his son. “Hey, Buddy. You wanna sleep in here with us?”

Nathaniel ran right to the bed and climbed in. The two made space for Nathaniel between them and once everyone got settled, they each placed a kiss on head.

“Goodnight, Nathaniel,” Clint said before reaching to turn off the light.

“Goodnight, Little Hawk,” Pietro said.

“Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Pietro. I love you,” Nathaniel replied s the room fell into darkness.

“We love you too,” both men said as they wrapped their arms around Nathaniel.

Outside the storm raged on and would continue on well into the morning. For the rest of the night, however Pietro, Clint and Nathaniel all slept peacefully. None of them were brother by anymore nighttime fears.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading your reviews. 
> 
> Like I said, this is my first time writing for this paring so I really really want to hear back from you.
> 
> For those of you who follow my Lazarus story, I'm starting on plot for an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. story that will help me deal with the events of the 2nd Season and which tie in with that story.
> 
> Again, I look forward to hearing back from you to see what you thought.


End file.
